Why I can’t have 10.000 Instagram followers but you can!

Although I don’t believe followers are a true reflection of successful social media usage, I am interested in influencers with thousands of followers. Influencer marketing is booming and a lot of people see the opportunity to build their online personal brand to have an (extra) income or to achieve other social media goals. What a lot of people forget is that building a follower base is hard work. Behind the perfect Instagram picture sits a lot of work, a lot of effort and a lot of hours. And yes, I’m like you, I would love to have a big follower base. But when I’m really honest with myself, I will never have 10.000 followers on Instagram. Not because I’m not interesting enough, not because I’m not talented enough, it’s because of several reasons. And these reasons are exactly what can help you to get 10.000 followers. So why will I never get thousands of followers?

Time

Yep, I don’t spend enough time on Instagram. I scroll true my timeline a couple of times per day and I try to post 1 picture per day. I like pictures of the people I follow but I don’t interact with the people I follow. And I don’t interact with people who I don’t follow (you can do this easily via the explore function). Getting followers means dedication. You have to spend a lot of time on the platform to get followers. My 30 minutes per day is not even close to what it should be. And with spending time on the platform I mean interacting with people and not just scrolling true your timeline 😉

Hashtags

You have to understand the data behind the hashtags you use. Which hashtag gives you to most likes and followers? Which hashtag helps you to get into the top posts? I do use hashtags that give me around 100 likes per picture but I don’t test hashtags. I don’t measure results and I don’t check if my picture was featured in one of the top posts. Data and metrics are extremely important when you want to grow your followers base. The caption is another very important part of your post. Testing different captions and thinking about the value you add before you click on share can make the difference.

Quality

Since a couple of weeks, I upload a lot of pictures made with my Canon camera. Because of this, I see an uplift in likes and comments on my account. This is because good quality pictures perform much better than low-quality pictures. There is nothing wrong with uploading low-quality pictures but if you want to grow your following you should only post high-quality pictures. And although I use my camera to make pictures I’m not a professional photographer, so my camera made pictures still don’t result in to thousands of likes. A lot of accounts with thousands of followers have a photographer making pictures of them or are very talented themselves.

Story

Another important reason why I don’t have thousands of followers is that I don’t have a clear story on my Instagram account. I post pictures from my trips, from food, from running or events. This is because these are the pictures I like to share. But if you want to grow your following it is important to have one specific theme for your account. Examples are health, fashion, lifestyle etc. This makes it easier for people to understand why they should follow you.

Instagram stories and live video

Accounts with a lot of followers are extremely active users. These users post often multiple times per day. But they also have very good looking and funny Instagram stories and interact with their followers via live video. I don’t use Instagram stories enough, if you want to keep your followers you should have a couple of Instagram stories per day. And from the moment your following starts to grow, live video is an important second one.

I’m happy with the followers that I have right now and I don’t have plans to invest much more time or energy in my Instagram account. I enjoy what I do and I’m happy with the way my account looks like. And of course, you don’t have to have a lot of followers to enjoy Instagram! Just remember, getting a lot of followers is hard work but if you are willing to invest you can definitely grow your following base!

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Welcome at WENDY VAN GILST!

Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm a Dutch girl in Dublin living a sugar free life. Social Media and Social Selling are my passion that's why I write 3 times per week Social Media and my life without sugar.